Usually any DST errors indicate the hard drive is starting to fail and needs replaced. And ,yes that 'can' cause the boot issues you are having.
A retail laptop SATA hard drive can be used. Just be sure to get one of at least equal capacity as the original in order to use Recovery Discs. It can be larger, but not smaller capacity.For instance if you have a 500GB hdd you could use a 750GB hdd but not a 320GB hdd.